Dublin and Belfast – ESI lecture on the EU-Turkey Deal two years on and meetings post-conflict reconciliation

Video: IIEA

ESI's Gerald Knaus was invited to give a presentation on the EU-Turkey Deal at the Institute of International and European Affairs (IIEA) in Dublin. In March 2016, the EU-Turkey statement created a basis for tackling the refugee crisis in the Aegean. The deal had an immediate impact on migrant crossings in the region, but two years later its implementation remains inadequate. In his lecture, Gerald argued that a humane and effective EU policy on asylum and borders is possible, but that the necessary first step is a serious and realistic debate on what has worked and what has failed.

Gerald also went to Belfast for meetings with policy makers and academics to learn more about the state of relations of the communities and the Good Friday Agreement as a background for ESI's research in the Western Balkans. among others, he met Steve Aiken (Chief Whip, MLA Ulster Unionist Party), Conor Keenan (Policy Advisor and former Chair South and East Belfast Sinn Féin), David Phinnemore (Professor of European Politics, Dean of Education Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences), and Anthony Soares (Deputy Director Center for Cross Border Studies).